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Virtual Monthly Tips
November 1, 2006
Issue 9
Sponsored by JERPAT
Patty Benton, Editor
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to view our archive.
In this issue:
Note from Patty
Article-The VA Industry is Exploding
and the Solution is Teamwork
Tips-Outlook Tips by Andrea Kalli
Putting Your VA to Work for You!-Marketing
Strategy
Special Offer-Get Your Press
Release Written and Out!
JERPAT Testimonials-Scott
Rosenthal of Career Impact
Note from Patty
Wow, can you believe the end of 2006 is so near? Before we get
started I wanted to remind you we will be taking off December and January from publishing
the newsletter so that we can enjoy all the different holidays and
keep our sanity! We are planning to be back in action in
February!
As I shared last month, I have set up 2 blogs for JERPAT. The first one is for all small
business owners to come and learn about ideas for helping grow their
business. We will be posting article and discussions that are
relevant the all small business owners. You can view this blog
at www.blog.moretime4u.org.
I have set up the 2nd one for virtual assistants and those using
virtual assistants (or thinking about using one) to discuss industry
related topics. You can view this one at
www.blog.virtualvacoach.com. We have been attempting to
post a topic a week, though depending on the week it may or may not
happen! I am encouraging you to come weigh in and be heard, we
are creating a "safe" environment for others to speak their opinions
in a professional manner. As a note, the more times you can get
your link out there, the better your search engine rankings, so come
on over, post, and don't forget to add your link!
This past month we worked hard to get a press release out in regards
to the VA Industry and how it is coping with the growth. I
wanted to take this opportunity to share it with you. I want to
send a special thank you to Paula Dodds of
www.psdodds.com who worked
tirelessly with me to get it worded "just right" so that we could
promote the industry.
Remember, I am always just an email
(va@jerpat.org) or phone call (877-506-2637 ext. 702
or 303.766.3052) away if you have any questions or would like to see
us cover something in the newsletter! Have a blessed month!
God
bless,
Patty Benton
JERPAT
Virtual Assistants and Web Designs
www.moretime4u.org
JERPAT VA Coaching
www.virtualvacoach.com
JERPAT VA Hosting
www.jerpat.org/jerpatHosting.htm
Acknowledging Christ Together at Work
www.actatwork.com
The VA Industry is
Exploding and the Solution is Teamwork
by Patty Benton and Paula Dodds
Copyright 2006
Approximately 15 years ago, a new profession was born that changed
the way small business owners handled their administrative tasks.
While small business owners originally turned to home-based
secretarial services, the advent of technological advances prompted
the beginning of the “Virtual Assistance” or “VA” industry. Today,
VAs are commonly partnering with small business owners, nonprofits,
home-based business professionals and larger corporations.
What began as an industry that took on temporary assignments has
expanded into an industry of professionals who partner with their
clients to provide regular part-time to full-time support for these
businesses. Clients have begun depending on their Virtual Assistants
for more projects and a wider variety of tasks, even to the extent of
allowing their VAs to manage all aspects of the administrative end of
their businesses. How has the Virtual Assistant industry responded to
this changing tide and increasing work load? Established VAs are now
heading up teams. As more VAs emerge from their training programs,
coaching programs, classes and life experience, the “newbies” are
finding that if they sign on with an experienced VA who has
established their client-base, they have instant work. Virtual
Assistants who have had their doors open for a while are finding
these new VAs are the key to having a thriving business. Instead of
the veteran Virtual Assistants doing all of the work themselves, they
take the new VAs under their proverbial wings, teach them new
technologies, teach them how to expand their services, and how to
obtain/maintain clients, all the while still making a good living
managing client projects.
Patty Benton, of JERPAT (www.moretime4u.org),
has found an ideal solution to the overflow of work. JERPAT started
out in October 2003 in the home office of Jerome and Patty Benton.
Patty heads up the Virtual Assistance and Coaching programs –
managing a team of fourteen new and experienced VAs. When she started
out, she focused on building a virtual assistance business in order
to contribute to her family’s finances while staying home with her
oldest daughter. She’s continued to build the business and eventually
created an affordable coaching program to help new VAs establish
their businesses, while teaching them how to work virtually through
her VA business. She’s added more Virtual Assistants, while
continuing to meet personal goals and add to her family. Since the
VAs are trained in line with JERPAT’s standards and code of ethics,
Patty feels as comfortable guaranteeing their work, as she would her
own. Patty states, “It has been the ideal solution for my family and
business. I can handle the workflow of my clients with the same
quality guarantee as if I were doing it myself, spend time with my
family, all the while helping other virtual assistants get on their
feet.”
Clients are also finding success with the solution of using a team of
VAs for their administrative needs. Patty Beach and Jennifer Joyce,
owners of True North Programs (a Colorado company –
www.truenorthprograms.com)
, comment, “We have worked with JERPAT for about one year. During
that time, we have had many varied requests for service, such as
additions and corrections to our website, materials prepared for
marketing, materials prepared & assembled into workbooks, graphic
designed, and bookkeeping. Throughout each project, the team have
been responsive, professional, and produced quality work.” With this
“team approach,” clients are able to get a much wider range of
talents without having to outsource to multiple companies.
As the popularity of using Virtual Assistants increases, Patty’s team
and others like it continue to expand their areas of expertise. From
doing database work to writing articles/reports to bookkeeping to
desktop publishing and web design, there’s someone to handle every
client need. To learn more about the VA industry or working with a
VA, visit www.moretime4.org.
Patty Benton is the owner of JERPAT
Virtual Assistants and JERPAT Web Design,
www.moretime4u.org, which
provides affordable administrative and web design support to coaches,
small businesses, religious organizations, and realtors.
Additionally, Patty is a coach for new entrepreneurs interested in
venturing into the virtual assistance industry that is affordable to
all, and she has also written an e-book that takes virtual assistants
through the process of setting up their business. Visit her coaching
site at
www.virtualvacoach.com for program details and great business
resources. She has also partnered to establish the ministry
Acknowledging Christ Together at Work
www.actatwork.com. If
you would like to receive Patty's articles and other tips in your
mailbox every month, you can sign up at
www.mortime4u.org/home.html.
© 2005 JERPAT
You have permission to reprint this article electronically or in
print, as long as the text and byline remain unedited. A courtesy
copy of your publication would be appreciated.
Outlook Tips
by Andrea Kalli
by Andrea Kalli
akalli@virtualassist.net
Tip #1
Drag and Drop --- a key component to keeping organized! You can
easily create new Outlook items from other Outlook items using drag
and drop. The hidden beauty of drag and drop is that whatever
information is in the message or notes area of the originating item
passes on to the message or notes area of the newly created
item...making for less typing, cut and pasting, etc. To name a few:
drag an email from your inbox to a contact folder and create a new
contact item. What's handy is if the email also contains the person's
phone numbers, websites, or addresses you can drag and drop those
individual pieces of information to their appropriate field from the
new contact record notes area. Again, less typing, cut and pasting,
etc. Drag an email to your task folder to create a new task. Drag an
email to your calendar folder to create a new appointment. Drag a
task from your task folder to your calendar folder to create a new
calendar item. Did you know you can create new Outlook items by
selecting specific text and dragging it to a folder? A new item form
opens with only the selected text in the Notes field or message body.
This is handy if the email message contains a lot of information you
don't really want to carry over into your new contact or appointment,
etc. Dragging HTML from a webpage to create a new task, email,
calendar, etc. works as well. Just reduce the size of the webpage in
your screen so you can see both your Outlook and the webpage at once.
dragging selected text from a Word document to create a new Outlook
task, email, calendar, etc. works too. Notes: It doesn't work with
all items types and text formats in all versions/service pack levels
of Outlook. If you receive an error, test it by selecting a block of
plain text. In Outlook 2003, you may receive errors if you use both
Unicode and ANSI (Outlook 97/2002 format) message stores and try to
create new items from existing items in the other message store
format. Not into drag and drop? Try copy and paste - use Ctrl+V to
paste copied text on a button or folder in Outlook to create an item
with the copied text in the Notes field. Have fun!
Tip #2
Think about adding your vCard to your AutoSignature. It provides a
universal business card that is not application specific. So when the
recipient receives your email they can quickly add you as a contact
to their own address book, no matter what kind they use. Start by
creating a new contact record in your Contacts folder for your
business. Provide all the needed information you would normally have
on a business card. Then create a new Signature for your emails, add
the vCard to it, and voila! You are ready to hand out your electronic
business card to every person you email.
Free videos available for the tips at
http://www.virtualassist.net/OutlookProductivityTips.htm.
Videos require Macromedia Flash plugin (you will be instructed to
download it if not already installed).
View archives at
http://www.virtualassist.net/OutlookProductivityTipsArchive.htm.
The Convenience of Virtual Training and
Assistance
Andrea Kalli Virtual Trainer and Assistant, LLC provides remote,
interactive Outlook 2003 training for small groups and one-on-one
sessions, as well as online support services for all versions of
Outlook, all at the comfort of your own desk or home PC. We offer
Outlook usability support for you or for all your employees. It's
like having an in-house Outlook expert! Empower your employees to use
the powerful collaboration features of Outlook with Exchange Server.
We focus on training users to get the most out of Outlook in the
business world. Onsite group Outlook training is available for the
Denver metro area of Colorado. Think about the immediate benefits to
virtual training...no more time spent driving, using valuable gas,
and looking or paying for parking. All this at a cost that is lower
than most traditional training classes. To learn more about this
unique way of learning please visit
www.virtualassist.net.
Putting Your VA to Work for You!
by
Patty Benton www.moretime4u.org
Using a
VA is freeing time for you to really work your business. Many
times marketing is the last thing you can get to. Why not
utilize your VA to help implement and track your marketing.
Do you
have a Press Release you have been meaning to get written
and out, but just don't have the time. Contact your VA to see if they
write Press Releases (if they don't, more than likely they will know
someone who does) and distributes them. Then have them track
the results to see how many times you get published. Remember,
it takes time to build a relationship with the Media, so don't just
do it once, but make Press Releases part of your regular marketing
plan!
Special Offer
Have you been meaning to get a Press Release out, but just can't find
the time? We understand. Contact us and let us do the
work for you!
Contact us by January 31, 2007, and receive the following
prices on your press release(s).
Contact
us for a free consultation to see if we can help you! We have a
new 800 number. Leave a message and we are notified
immediately! 877-506-2637 ext. 702
(Good only through January 31,
2007)
JERPAT
Testimonials
I
trust the team at JERPAT to come through on any projects in which we
have need. Their attitude is client-centered and a real pleasure to
do business with.
I would recommend them highly!
Dr Scott Rosenthal, President
Career Impact
www.careerimpact.org
Contact
Patty Benton
va@jerpat.org
www.moretime4u.org
www.virtualvacoach.com
20269 Smoky Hill Road, Suite 136 B
Centennial, Colorado 80015
877-506-2637 ext. 702
(Call anytime, leave a message, and we are notified immediately!)
This newsletter
was established for client's of JERPAT, potential client's of JERPAT,
business owners, virtual assistants, and/or any other party that may
be interested in working with a virtual assistant some time in the
future. If you work with another virtual assistance company, that is
great. Our goal is that you can take the knowledge you learn from
this newsletter and apply it to your business and your relationship
with your VA. If you are receiving this newsletter, it is because
you are a client or have expressed interest in the past in JERPAT, or
have at some point requested to receive this newsletter or were a
subscriber to the Virtual Insider.
We
respect your privacy, and if you wish to no longer receive this
newsletter in your mailbox once a month, please click here and your
name will be removed from our list. I hope this newsletter has
been a blessing to you and your business!
© 2005 JERPAT
No part of this
newsletter may be reproduced unless specified in the authors byline.
Please respect all guidelines provided in this newsletter. If there are
no guidelines provided for a section of this newsletter you would
like to reproduce, please send print request to
jerpattips@moretime4u.org.
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